


the soul takes flight

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 06:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5817271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: leo falls asleep in the engine room of the Argo II every night but when he wakes up he's in his room. He has no idea how he's getting there until Jason trips while carrying him up one night which leads to a deep late night conversation and kissing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the soul takes flight

**Author's Note:**

> took it down momentarily to do some edits but now it's back.

Being stuck in a flying ship with a bunch of teenagers was not as fun as it was made out to be. Leo could’ve said a thing or two about it.  That was, of course, _before_ the Romans decided to blow craters into said ship. The whole business was a nightmare. Even the golden couple was getting snippy with each other, that is, Annabeth Chase and her surfer-dude boyfriend, Percy Jackson. They were the only golden couple left, it seemed. Hazel and Frank were in some sort of friendship limbo. And then his own friends, well…. Days ago Piper had told him that she and Jason had broken up, and Leo now had been stuck running interference between the awkward twosome while simultaneously repairing the ship. Eventually he holed himself up in the engine room to fix the worst of the damage and hide.

“ _Dad_ help me,” Leo muttered after he miscalculated the angle of his hammer and almost struck his thumb. He’d been saying that a lot lately. Jackson and Annabeth often used phrases like ‘by Zeus’ or ‘by the River of Styx’ and honestly he didn’t want to test his luck. Leo’d always had bad luck.

At some point Leo realized that he’d been in the engine room for hours, which wasn’t technically healthy. He’d forgotten to eat dinner, and judging by the time, he was sure everyone had gone to sleep already. Between fixing up the ship and getting a few winks himself, Leo decided it was best for everyone to forgo the latter.

He yawned and got back to work.

/

When he woke up, Leo felt the comforting woolen blankets draped over him and the thin cabin-brand mattress beneath him. He turned over on his side, rubbing the crust from his eyes. Somehow Leo had made it to his bedroom but there was no hint as to how. Leo pushed the covers aside, confused. It was hard to recall if he had walked all this way. The likeliness of that happening was low. One moment he had been fighting against fatigue and the next everything had gone dark. After a second of consideration, Leo decided he had zombie-walked to bed, searching for the solace of his man-cave.

A knock at the door alerted him to a visitor. “Come in,” Leo called out, busying himself by putting on his boots, which he’d somehow managed to take off last night.

The door creaked open to reveal Jason’s tell-tale sunshine blond hair. Jason’s head peaked in. Leo noted the bags under his eyes. The break-up must have been hard, he thought.  
  
“Breakfast is ready,” Jason said. “Mind if I come in?”

Leo patted the empty space beside him. Jason’s smile was strained as he tiptoed into the room and collapsed on Leo’s bed. Leo twiddled his thumb absentmindedly. “So…”

“So?” Jason repeated, raising a brow. Leo moved to punch him playfully, but Jason caught his fist before the hit could land. He didn’t let go. Frozen, they stared at each other. Then Leo extricated his hand, tucking it back into the safety of his lap.

He coughed into his hand, trying to break the sudden tension. “Right. So, you aren’t here to ask me about Piper or something?”

Jason’s entire body pushed itself backwards as he stared at Leo with a befuddled expression. “What? _No_. Why would I want to talk about Piper?”

Leo shrugged. “It’s just that you guys have been broken up for almost a week now. That’s gotta be a record,” he joked, but judging from Jason’s expression, it wasn’t that funny. “Anyhow, if you don’t want to talk about Piper why are you here?”

“I just wanted to spend time with you. Isn’t that good enough?” _Uh, no,_ Leo answered in his head, but he didn’t say anything. He’d learned a long time ago that no one wanted to join Leo Valdez’ one-man pity party. So instead of answering he shrugged his shoulders again.  
  
Jason sighed, but went on. “I’ve been worried. You’re running yourself ragged.”

“Look who’s talking.” Leo snorted. “I may be the raggedy man, but you my dear Captain America, aren’t looking so hot yourself. Get any sleep lately?”

“This isn’t about me, Leo.”

“Well, I don’t see why it has to be about me.”  
  
“I just…” Jason lips thinned. “I really care about you.”  Leo felt something pressurize in his chest, like someone turned the valve up too high. All of a sudden the tension between them resettled, and he admonished himself, because he knew Jason wasn’t feeling anything. His friend was always like that, taking people under his wing like they need to be coddled. As if he didn’t deserve to be coddled himself.

He shot out of bed. “Right! Well, I’m starving here, lightning man. Time to get us some breakfast.”

Waiting for Jason to catch up would take too long, so he left.

/

It’s wasn’t intentional on Leo’s part. Er, well, not _wholly_ intentional, but he ended up using Piper as a human shield. In all fairness it was her turn, he tried to rationalize, since he had spent the morning with Jason. There was only so much of him to pass around.

Piper caught on right away, when Jason took to looking at him like a kicked puppy and Leo pointedly directed his gaze in the opposite direction.  
  
“What did you _do_?” she demanded, gesturing at him.

Leo popped four baby carrots into his mouth. “’m nah sure whadya mean,” he mumbled through his food. She scrunched her nose, but ignored him.

“You made Jason upset. _Tell me_ ,” she said, and suddenly Leo sensed something like a hook tugging at his mouth. Charm speak. He smiled wrily and booped her nose.

“I thought you weren’t going to use that charming tongue of yours to get what you want, Ms. McLean,” Leo said.

Piper swatted his hand away. “The greater good, Mr. Valdez.”

“I am your wife, I am the greatest _good-”_

 _“_ Leo please _.”_

He sighed, scratching the back of his neck nervously. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her. Before the _by-the-way-your-parents-are-Greek-gods_ thing happened and Jason showed up, they had told each other everything. But this was different. Leo had never mentioned he liked _boys_ before, not to anyone within the camp, and sure Piper knew, but. “I like a boy” is a completely different field than “I like your ex-boyfriend who is probably your future boyfriend, and I have a delusion that he may like me back a little, please don’t hurt me”. Instead Leo gulped down his cup of prune juice - disgusting - and stalled.

Finally he settled on something. “Nothing, Pipes. I did nothing. He just said that he was worried about sleeping habits, and I said he should look in the mirror, and then stuff happened and I left.” Leo elected to not elaborate further.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“Nope.”

“-but it’s fine because I haven’t been a very good friend lately.”

Leo stared down at his plate, knowing it wasn’t true. He was the bad friend.

 /

The next week went by with an ironic twist. Somehow it was him and Jason who ended up dancing around each other while Piper balanced between them. To Leo’s relief, Jason and Piper seemed to be friends again. He hated himself for not being completely happy about it. The first day he saw them together again, he thought, _this is the end of the line for you, Leo Valdez, accept your fat_ e. But the bitter edge of jealousy had tainted something that should have stayed pure. It wasn’t until later that Piper had told him that they were together, yes, but only as friends.

Otherwise Piper wasn’t helping much. She kept throwing furtive glances between them and trying to trap them in the same room. It was only Leo’s prowess with slipping away that had kept them from an uncomfortable confrontation. He thought Jason should be grateful.

Meanwhile the repairs were going fine and dandy. Most of his days were now spent in the engine room, where he had to make sure everything was fixed or else they would blow up to smithereens in the sky. It would make great fish food.

He fell asleep in the engine room all the time, but somehow he subconsciously managed to walk back to his bedroom by morning.

/

Leo stirred awake because of a sudden jolt. He grumbled, tucking his head back into his pillow. For some reason, it seemed sturdier than usual. His hands felt cold, so he slipped them under the covers. The texture of the blankets felt off, though, smooth and taut, almost like-

_By Cerberus’ hairballs!_

Leo’s eyes snapped open. He stared up at the face of Jason Grace, who’s mouth was only a couple of inches away from his, and whom Leo had accidentally groped. Oh gods, if only the ground could swallow him up. He should ask Nico about that. Like now. Leo struggled out of Jason’s grip, but Jason only shushed him softly. “Sorry,” he whispered, “I tripped while walking down the stairs. We’re almost to your room.”

Leo’s ears burned hot enough to power the sun for the next fifty years. “Jason?” he said. “How long have you been doing this?”

Jason blinked. “Uh, since the beginning? I thought you knew.”

“I thought I was zombie-walking,” Leo muttered, tucking his head into Jason’s chest. If he wasn’t going to escape, he might as well enjoy it.  
  
Jason laughed, and Leo felt the rumbles against his ears. “Just go to sleep. We can talk about it later.” As Jason was talking he kept moving, and Leo could tell when they reached him bedroom since Jason manhandled Leo onto his shoulder so he could turn the knob. Leo guessed it was a regular occurrence because Jason seemed unfazed by it. From this angle, he could smell the clean soapy scent of Jason’s shampoo. Jason always bought generic brands because the warrior goddess Bellona had believed in efficiency. Leo had grown fond of it.

Jason set him down on the bed gently, and he was about to lift the covers over him when Leo’s hand shot up to wrap around his wrist. “Stay,” Leo ordered. “If this means what I think it means, stay.”

Jason’s expression softened. “Okay,” he said. He slipped the covers partly off Leo, just enough to give him room to lie on the bed. Their chests pressed together, and Jason settled his arm on Leo’s waist, pulling him closer.

“Geez, you’re like a human furnace,” Leo mumbled groggily. Jason chuckled.

“Look who’s talking,” he retorted.

/

The next time Leo awoke, it was still dark out, and he was not alone. Jason was with him, and he seemed to have been awake far longer than Leo.

“Woah there, sky boy,” Leo said jokingly. “This isn’t Twilight, you know. I mean I know I’m good looking but please contain yourself.”  
  
A dusting of pink traveled up to Jason’s cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to. It’s just that I woke and - I really like you,” Jason said, staring straight into Leo’s eyes. Now it was his turn to blush.

“Not as a friend.”

“More than a friend,” Jason affirmed. Leo stared at Jason’s hand, which was lying freely between them on the pillow. He took it into his own, interlacing their fingers together. It was impossible. All this time, it hadn’t been something in his head.

“What about Piper?” Leo hedged, because no matter how much he wanted it, he couldn’t do that to her. Jason smiled sadly.

“I told her,” he said.

“You did?”

Jason nodded. “It was the reason why we broke up.”  
  
“ _Me_ ,” Leo echoed, feeling guilty. What if-

“Not entirely,” Jason amended. “We didn’t have anything in common to base a romantic relationship on, but the end came because I couldn’t bring myself to try anymore. Not when you were there. She’s a good person. She didn’t hold it against me, and definitely not against you.”

“Yeah.”

They lied there is silence for a moment, Jason’s thumb tracing circles in Leo’s skin, the other resting on his waist. He pressed himself forward, basking in it.

“Can I kiss you-” Jason said, just as Leo started with his own, “Kiss me-”

They paused. “Kiss me,” Leo repeated. Jason’s lips were upon him in seconds, pressing fervently, heatedly, as if they would only have the opportunity to do it once. Leo allowed himself to be carried away by his fervour, bringing his hands to cup Jason’s cheeks and pulling him closer.

They pulled away, out of breath. Leo gazed into Jason’s eyes, searchingly, then again, “Kiss me, Jason Grace.”


End file.
